As John narrowly avoided being hit, everyone gasped in shock.
Too terrifying, absolutely terrifying!
John, with his incredible speed, had almost been caught.
If it were any of them, they would have been dead in an instant.
But John didn't stop.
Instead, he pulled out a bottle of monkey wine from his backpack and took a sip.
Instantly, the cold that had pervaded his entire body was dispelled!
[Item] Monkey Wine
[Quality] Common
[Attributes] Increases magic attack power by 20%, attack power by 20%, reduces MP consumption by 50%, restores 300 stamina, and dispels frozen status. (Though it's a fine brew, don't overindulge; it randomly grants a drunken buff.)
While the other buffs were excellent, John primarily valued the dispelling of the frozen status.
He also noticed a new buff: immunity to slowing and freezing effects for one minute!
Aware of the potential for drunkenness if consumed in excess, John only took a single sip, which turned out to be very effective.
Almost immediately, his speed picked up again.
But just then, the Lava Behemoth's attack reached him!
However, as the lava encroached into the Frost Giant's attack zone, it instantly froze.
The Lava Behemoth seemed to grow angrier, roaring again and spewing out more scorching lava.
John stood between the two attacking forces, feeling the temperature around him reach an eerie equilibrium.
One step forward would lead him into the icy frost flowers, while one step to the right would plunge him into the bone-melting lava.
Yet, in this narrow space between them, a strange balance was achieved!
The Frost Giant and the Lava Behemoth appeared displeased with each other, each blocking the other's path to John.
They intensified their skill output, both aiming to hit John.
But John skillfully positioned himself right between them, forcing the monsters to consume more of their energy to reach him.
Meanwhile, the golem closed in from behind.
Roar!
With a mighty roar, several stones from the golem flew through the air toward John.
Archibald, wide-eyed, tried to cast a skill to shatter the stones but found it impossible.
These stones were part of the golem, matching its hardness and defense.
Attacks could only forcefully reduce their HP by a minuscule amount.
However, they quickly noticed something unusual.
They realized why John had positioned himself between the two monsters.
When the golem's stones landed in the middle, they were instantly incinerated into black ash by the lava!
Then, the Frost Giant slammed the ground!
In an instant, John felt his left side stiffen.
Frost visibly formed around his body, and even his hand holding the staff became rigid.
He had to survive this!
John gritted his teeth, fighting through the encroaching cold, knowing that every second counted.
Not good!
Without hesitation, John took another swig of monkey wine.
But in the next instant, the Lava Behemoth roared, sending a scorching wave of heat toward him!
The extreme cold and heat collided, creating a thick mist that instantly obscured the surrounding area.
"What happened? Why is there suddenly so much fog?"
"I can't see anything! What's happening to John?"
"This is bad. We can't see the six elite monsters or attack them!"
"John won't be in trouble, will he?"
Everyone was anxious as their vision was obscured.
Fear stemmed from the unknown; not knowing what was happening made them even more frightened.
They couldn't see what was happening in the mist, nor could they tell John's current situation.
They could only glance at the leaderboard, seeing John's name still illuminated, providing a small measure of relief.
However, the tension around John was palpable.
Due to their permissions, they could see the basic status of everyone in the fortress.
They noticed several debuffs on John's status:
Frozen! Burned! Slowed!
Moreover, his HP was rapidly dropping.
In the blink of an eye, it fell to half and continued to decrease.
When it reached one-third, it suddenly refilled, indicating he had taken a potion, but it kept dropping.
Archibald was extremely nervous, but he dared not say a word.
He could only grit his teeth tightly and watch the area obscured by the ice fog.
Roar after roar! The golems unleashed a violent barrage of stones into the icy mist.
With the fog obscuring their vision, they could only randomly hurl the stones, unable to discern John's location.
Despite hurling dozens of rocks into the mist, there was no response.
However, the golems outside visibly shrank in size.
When the people on the wall cast their skills at them, the damage inflicted increased from tens to hundreds of points!
John, caught between the two abilities, instinctively tried to escape forward but found himself unable to move!
The effect of the speed potion had worn off!